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Old 09-11-2008, 04:50 PM
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Default Real Issues?

It now appears that both candidates for President are changing their positions with regard to ending the Iraq War to become very similar to one another. Both now are saying that it's time for the Iraqis to assume responsibility for their own defense and that they are ready to do so. Both are now saying that it's time for U.S. troops to be withdrawn. In Obama's case, he suggests that some should be deployed to increase force strength in Afghanistan; I don't know what Senator McCain has said specifically on that issue.

But what is happening--in case you haven't noticed--is that neither candidate is talking much about the Iraq War, troop strength, etc. Oh, they're still bantering back and forth about who was right and who was wrong regarding the original invasion and the success of the "surge". But even those arguments are lessening in frequency.

It's pretty clear that the campaign committees of both candidates have realized that the war is pretty far down the totem pole of issues of interest to the electorate. We know that our troops are on their way out, and so do they.

So what issues have the candidates elevated to most important status? Lipstick on pigs? Executive experience? Middle names? What a pastor said from the pulpit?

C'mon folks, it's up to us to exchange some views and information on the REAL issues that we should be demanding answers about. How about the deficit, healthcare, Medicare, Social Security, education? There's got to be more for us to discuss here than the unimportant things that the campaign managers would like to distract us with.

How about the impending failure of Lehman Brothers, one of the largest investment banks on Wall Street and a major, major bond trading operation? What are the candidates saying? Nothing. What questions are voters asking? None. Yet, if Lehman Brothers goes belly up or is sold to a foreign buyer which is one possibility, it will hit each of us squarely in our investment portfolios--big time. Why is no one talking or asking questions? Is it because they're too inexperienced and uninformed to even realize the magnitude of the problem? Boy, we'd better start paying a lot more attention to important issues like what caused this situation as we pick our elected leaders in the future. If we keep yammering about lipstick on pigs instead of important issues, it'll be our own damn fault.